Kouma Kishima (軋間 紅摩,Kishima Kōma?) is the man who eliminated the Nanaya clan under orders of Makihisa Tohno. He is a member of the Kishima clan, a clan which is a sub-family of the Tohnos but with much stronger demon blood running through them.

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Kouma was born into the Kishima family as something that shouldn't have been born. He is the eldest son of the Kishima.[1] As a family of Mixed-Bloods, they continued to mix with Onis while attempting to make their bloodline stronger, and the sin of their several hundred years of work finally took form in their generation. He had preserved the desired purity they had been waiting for when he was born, but even they, who were not normal, realized that he was the path to their destruction. They thought that this is where the bloodlines of all hybrids end, and that they were either just terribly slower than the others or arrived there terribly early.

Calling him a Demon Child, they desperately tried to hide away his existence. He was given a dark, traditional Japanese-style room, and that was all the freedom he was allowed. He was a small child, so he was likely satisfied with the space. He would also often glare at the space as if it were too large, but he would have been unable to voice his complaints in the first place. He didn't understand people, their behaviors, expressions, or words, or anything else very well. He thought that he must have been a dog rather than a human, and if that wasn't the case, the severe gap must have meant he had gone crazy.

He was never taught anything, and as no one talked to him in the first place, there was no need to learn words or tell others his thoughts. His eyes could pull out the inner side of people. Most of the people who met him were nothing but terrified, so that is how he learned people were like that. Since they only acted like that, it was natural there was no need to learn words. He would have rather been among the animals in the forest he liked so much, but they couldn't let the family's successor, even if only in formality, move around in such a manner. It was likely an embarrassment for them to have the next head wish to live as a beast.

While wild, he wasn't a fool like they so believed, and he matured very quickly. He learned how to seal his power early during his life, and he never once opened his cage since he was born. He kept suppressing his thirst and the beast called himself, much like a fasting that began right when he was born. It is normal that a hybrid only feels such bloodlust after growing up as a human and finding something in need of protection. The Inversion Impulse of his bloodline destroys a person within a year, even with the mind of an adult. He understood that fact quietly, even though he was a child without words or the concept of a family.

He was trying to protect his family even without knowing, even without understanding how such things as a father, mother, or siblings are related to him. He still suppressed himself to protect them, likely because he knew that returning to soil peacefully someday after being forgotten was the right thing. It didn't last long, and the one who put an end to it was someone other than him. Receiving the curse, "You were out of your mind since you were born.", he was shot in the head with a bullet. The words were true, as he was different since he was born, which is why he was able to suppress the blood longer and didn't go crazy like them. The boy who had been out of his mind since he was born was unable to even die from such a thing as a bullet.

After the mansion burned down and the clan was slaughtered, only he was left. However, because the Kishima family itself has already died out, he is treated as the family head.[1] It was easy for him to end something like a family because he was unable to understand it in the first place. He possessed no regret, emotion, remorse, or feelings, and he was a living being who could only exist that way from the beginning. The head of the Saiki family arrived afterward, and they eventually took him into their mansion. Barely ten years old, he was chained by both his arms and legs while being covered in wounds. He encountered Kiri Nanaya during his slaughter of the Saiki family, and he had his eye crushed due to Kiri's unconscious idea that it would let him defeat Kouma later in life. His head simply dropped down without a scream, and Kiri left the room while the dripping blood stained the floor.

Due to Makihisa Tohno orders, he slaughtered the Nanaya clan. The last man standing was Kiri Nanaya and Kouma faced him to a death match, the gap between him and other humans was finally solved due to meeting the same type of person as him. Since Kiri was just a human, the outcome of the fight was decided from the beginning.

He spared the life of the young Shiki Nanaya due to having felt that the two would meet again in the future. After the Nanaya clan massacre, Kishima voluntarily distanced himself from human society and lived as a hermit in the mountains until 3 years prior to the events of Tsukihime, when he was allowed to reside in the Tohno mansion as the head of the Kishima family. Even while living in the Tohno mansion, he was rather quiet and distanced himself from the other residents. Kohaku notes that whenever she called him 'young master', he would give her a cold look and leave. When Akiha requested that he and the other residents leave the mansion (due to her calling Shiki back), he apparently went back to living in the mountains.

Kouma himself, however, is a tranquil character, similar to a mountain ascetic aiming for enlightenment in order to find meaning in his own existence.[2] As the Kishima have fallen into decline, Kouma would have been fine if he just quietly faded into obscurity in his forest den, letting the line die out for good.[2]

Kiri Nanaya's existence has affected Kouma a lot. Before his death match with Kiri, Kouma never felt the sensation of truly being alive until Kiri engrave the "sensation of being alive" into Kouma.[3] But, because Kiri showed fierce resistance to the end and even caused serious wounds on Kouma and made him feel pain for the first time in his life, the mixed-blood recognized the demon-hunter as being the embodiment of Hell.

Kishima Kouma in Kagestu Tohya is only a nightmare image of Tohno Shiki's, when he imagined how it would be "the end of the world for him," Kouma is that person in the dream of Shiki, while he was in a coma during the events of Kagetsu Tohya.

When he was young, Kouma lost one of his eyes to Kiri Nanaya. He is described as the perfect combination of human and demon blood, and possesses massive physical strength speed, as well as a body as hard as steel. His physical prowess gives him the power to crush trees with his bare hands. Truly, he is an oni emblematic of scorching heat and burning flames, this earned his nickname "Red Fierce God".[1][2] He is a true Crimson Red Vermillion, an existence far from the human race. His existence itself has become a Mystery, and even if he didn't have that nature, he's like an athlete caught by drug testing.[4] He is able to fight one-on-one against a Servant with an average Noble Phantasm on equal ground.[5] The power of a Crimson Red Vermillion can be seen through the Arc-Drives of Akiha Tohno and Kouma in Melty Blood. Kouma is closer to the state of Crimson Red Vermillion than Akiha, but she is fundamentally superior in terms of functioning in the state of Crimson Red Vermillion.[6]

Single Horn (独角,Dokukaku?) is the martial arts practiced by Kouma. It is a martial art that can only be passed down to "one like oneself". In this case, that refers to the Kishima family of oni hybrids, which means that it can only be learned by another Kishima.[7]Jambudvīpa Inferno (閻浮炎上,Enbu Enjō?) is Kouma's Arc Drive. It causes the opponent and the surrounding environment to burst into flames, similar to actually being consumed by hellfire. The name Jambudvīpa comes from Buddhism. It is the southernmost of the four island-continents surrounding Mount Sumeru in the Desire realm Kāmadhātu, and is the place where humans live. Basically, another name for Sahā-lokadhātu, the endurance world.[8]Judgment of Yama (夜摩判決,Yama Hanketsu?) is Kouma's Last Arc. It can be triggered by an aerial counter. After it starts, Kouma flies to the edge of the screen, then hits the opponent with a powerful jumping kick. There are two different things that he might yell out at this point, but one of them is extremely rare. In Buddhism, Yama is the name of the very first human to die, who then became the king of hell. He is also called Enma Dai-O.[9]

Kouma Kishima [Person's name]
Eldest son of the Kishima. However, because the Kishima family itself has already died out, he is treated as the family head.
He was summoned by Tohno Makihisa to be his trump card in wiping out the Nanaya, and delivered results far beyond his expectations.
For Shiki, who subconsciously remembers the scenes of devastation from that time, Kouma has become a nigh insurmountable image of death.
With grip strength powerful enough crush enormous trees in his hands, inborn agility, and strange oni powers, he annihilates his enemies without mercy. Truly, he is an oni emblematic of scorching heat and burning flames.
Currently still alive.

Kouma Kishima [Person's name]
A demon hybrid with Herculean strength. He is a descendent of the oni that once inhabited Japan, but whose numbers fell hand in hand with the expansion of civilization, until they finally went extinct.
With grip strength powerful enough crush enormous trees in his hands, inborn agility, and strange oni powers, he annihilates his enemies without mercy. Truly, he is an oni emblematic of scorching heat and burning flames.
Though the Kishima are one of the numerous Tohno branch families, they have long since fallen into decline.
As far as Kouma was concerned, it would have been fine if he just quietly faded into obscurity in his forest den, letting the line die out for good. However, he was called out by Tohno Makihisa to be the Tohno's trump card against the Nanaya, a role which he fulfilled perfectly.
The Nanaya family was completely wiped out.
For Tohno Shiki, who subconsciously remembers the scenes of devastation from that time, Kouma has become a nigh insurmountable image of death.
Kouma himself, however, is a tranquil character, similar to a mountain ascetic aiming for enlightenment inorder to find meaning in his own existence.

Kiri Nanaya [Person's name]
Tohno Shiki's real father. The last Nanaya family head.
As a member of the Nanaya family that made their living by assassinating demon hybrids, he was a killing machine that started studying and refining the art of slaughter at an extremely young age.
His way of utilizing three-dimensional space was just like a spider climbing on a web. His preferred weapon was an iron club that looked like a drumstick, and despite using a blunt instrument he would dismember his targets as efficiently as if he had been using a blade.
Though Kiri himself had no doubt that he would live as an assassin his entire life, that all changed with the birth of the son he had fathered for the sole purpose of having a successor, and he retired from the business of killing.
But, it was already too late. Six years after he and his family secluded themselves in the mountains, they faced retribution from the demon hybrids, their former prey.
…However, just before dying, he was able to engrave a "sense of being alive" into Kishima Kouma, who up until then had lacked any sort of human emotions.

Q: Between Kotomine, Bazett, Kuzuki, Melty Blood’s Miyako, and Kishima Kouma, who’d be the top 3 in a purely hand to hand fight with no weapons or magecraft?

A: I’m excluding Kouma since his existence itself has become a mystery.
And even if he didn’t have that nature, he’s like an athlete caught by drug testing.
Out of the four left, the winner in pure strength is Bazett.
If it’s limited to one match and a surprise attack, then it’s Kuzuki.
And if it’s the Kotomine from ten years ago, he’s stronger than Bazett overall.

Q: In the other Type-Moon works, who else besides Arc can fight against Servants?

A: If we're working on the condition of one on one, with an extremely average Noble Phantasm. Generally most of the 27 Ancestors, Kishima Kouma, Aozaki Aoko.
If it's just a defensive fight, but would still be a fight, then Ciel. Shiki (Rakkyo), Shiki (Tsukihime) are no match for Servants....but Ryougi Shiki (3rd personality) might be able to go as far as the Ciel class.

Crimson Red Vermillion [Term]
Crimson Red Vermillion.
The name for when those with inhuman heritage have drawn out their sleeping blood to the maximum possible extent.
The name Crimson Red Vermillion is unique to the families ruled over by the Tohno household. Elsewhere, it is known as Ancestral Return.
As one with particularly tainted blood, the possibility that Akiha will become a Crimson Red Vermillion is high.
You can catch a glimpse of this during Tohno Akiha and Kishima Kouma's Arc Drives. Also, though Kouma is the closest to attaining it at the current stage, Akiha is actually the one with more aptitude for it.

Dokukaku [Technique name]
Single Horn. The name of the martial art practiced by Kishima Kouma.
Like the monk who attains enlightenment on his own, it is solitary. Which is to say, it is a martial art that can only be passed down to "one like oneself". In this case, that refers to the Kishima family of oni hybrids.
If the Nanaya martial arts are something that can be inherited by any four-legged beast, then the Kishima martial arts are something that can only be learned by the Kishima.

Jambudvīpa Inferno [Technique name]
Kishima Kouma's Arc Drive.
Though it bears a striking resemblance to Tohno Akiha's Arc Drive, the nuance is completely different. In Akiha's case, the opponent is merely mistaking the feeling of having their heat stolen as a burning sensation, while in Kouma's case both they and the surrounding environment are actually being consumed by hellfire.
The name Jambudvīpa comes from Buddhism. It is the southernmost of the four island-continents surrounding Mount Sumeru in the Desire realm Kāmadhātu, and the place where humans live. Basically, another name for Sahā-lokadhātu, the endurance world.

Judgment of Yama [Technique name]
Kishima Kouma's Last Arc.
Triggered by an aerial counter. After it starts, Kouma flies to the edge of the screen, then hits the opponent with a powerful jumping kick. There are two different things that he might yell out at this point, but one of them is extremely rare.
In Buddhism, Yama is the name of the very first human to die, who then became the king of hell. He is also called Enma Dai-O.